Daniel Bryan was recently a guest on the Why Not Now? podcast. During the podcast, Bryan spoke on a wide variety of topics, including getting cleared to return to the ring for WWE.
During the interview, Bryan revealed that there was one specific match that convinced him to fight for his in-ring return.
Here is what he said (h/t to Wrestling INC):
“I had been cleared by several neurologists, well-known neurologists from all over the country, and they still wouldn’t clear me to wrestle, the WWE wouldn’t clear me to wrestle, but these other neurologists had. But I had accepted it at some point and just been like, ‘okay, pro wrestling had been my dream since I was a little kid, right? And I had a good 16 years in, and all of that kind of stuff. And I kind of accepted it as ‘maybe it was dangerous’ and that sort of thing, but I was sitting by the ring watching a match. They had me in this role, this non-wrestling role, the General Manager of the show, sit out by the ring and I was watching these guys wrestle and they were two of my friends that I had known for years, right? A guy named Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. And I was sitting there and they’re both really good, and the crowd’s going crazy, and I was like, ‘I refuse to accept this! It took me another year-and-a-half before I got cleared, but I did it!”
Great to have Daniel back!